Although it wasn’t considered a surprise, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision striking down President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship provoked strong reactions from Florida lawmakers on Tuesday.
The president issued that executive order shortly after he was sworn into office for a second term last year. It said that babies born in the United States to parents who are in this country either illegally or temporarily are not automatically entitled to citizenship. That order never went into effect, however, as several federal judges across the country prohibited the administration from enforcing it in the face of legal challenges.
Speaking during a press conference in The Villages, Gov. Ron DeSantis said he was “definitely disappointed” in the 6-3 ruling.
“That decision in birthright citizenship means, in effect, unless there’s an amendment to the federal Constitution, that you will have birthright citizenship for birth tourists and people coming to the country illegally indefinitely,” he said. “That’s a tough one. I don’t think that that’s the original understanding of it, but what I think it does is, like, you gotta make sure that people on visas can’t just come in and abuse it. You gotta make sure that the border remains secure. You gotta remain all these different things to really get a handle on it.”
Florida GOP U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, who hopes to succeed DeSantis in the governor’s mansion next year, called it a “terrible ruling from the Supreme Court.”
“President Trump is right — birthright citizenship has been abused beyond recognition,” Donalds said on X. “We must fight for an immigration system that puts the American people first, and promotes assimilation and security.”
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier had a stern response.
“No branch of government has done more damage to our country than the U.S. Supreme Court,” he wrote on his X account. “With this decision, the Court has, yet again, betrayed the Constitution and the American people.”
Florida U.S. Sen. Rick Scott said that now that the Supreme Court had made its decision, “Congress needs to respond.”
“We need to make sure illegal aliens don’t come into country and EXPLOIT our immigration system,” Scott wrote on X. “That means closing EVERY. SINGLE. LOOPHOLE.”
Scott went on to say that it was important for Congress to approve his SAFE KIDS Act, the “Stopping Adversarial Foreign Exploitation of Kids in Domestic Surrogacy Act,” which has been described as Congress’s first legislative attempt to address international surrogacy.
Democrats celebrate the ruling
Florida Democrats hailed the ruling.
Orlando-area U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost said in a written statement that the high court had affirmed that if you are born in the United States, “you are a citizen of the United States.”
“Birthright citizenship has been settled law for more than 150 years,” he said. “It’s a guarantee rooted in equal protection, not politics. Attempts to narrow or erase that guarantee were never about constitutional principle, they were about deciding who belongs in America.”
Jacksonville-area state Rep. Angie Nixon, running in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, said the ruling affirmed that President Trump “is not a king and the Supreme Court and Congress should not treat him as such.”
“Birthright citizenship was settled more than 150 years ago with the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,” she said. “The court was right to limit the president’s power in this regard. All of us should expect this administration to stop the targeted attacks on our neighbors and focus on the economy.”
Retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Alex Vindman, competing against Nixon in the Democratic Senate primary, released a statement acknowledging how he and his family immigrated to the U.S. from the Soviet Union when he was three years old in search of freedom and new opportunities.
“For our nation’s entire history, immigrants have made invaluable contributions to the fabric of our country, building businesses, raising families, serving our country in uniform like my three brothers and myself, and contributing to the strength of our economy and our democracy.”
Longtime South Florida U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson called the ruling a victory for the Constitution and for families across the country.
“Every child born in the United States deserves the full rights and protections of citizenship, regardless of their parents’ immigration status. While today’s ruling is an important victory, we must remain vigilant in defending the Constitution and protecting immigrant families from continued attacks on their rights and their dignity.”
Transgender ban
Among the other decisions announced Tuesday by the Supreme Court was a 6-3 ruling upholding laws in Idaho and West Virginia barring transgender girls and women from playing on female school athletic teams. The court also ruled unanimously that barring transgender women and girls doesn’t violate the federal law known as Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in education.
When asked about that ruling, DeSantis boasted that the Florida Legislature passed and he signed the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act” during the 2021 legislative session, which barred transgender women and girls from participating in women’s sports teams at public schools and universities.
“When we did it, we were attacked mercilessly for doing it, because we were cutting right against the ideology,” he said.
“But you know, I had these girls, they’re in high school and they’re running track, and they win a race, and then they go to the next round, and they have two boys with the other three girls. And they lose to the other two boys. And I’m just thinking to myself, ‘How is that something that we should be proud of? That’s fair? That’s just? That’s acceptable? To steal somebody else’s glory like that? And steal their hard work? I just thought that was disgraceful. So, we stood up and, when we did it, it was unpopular, certainly with media and with a lot of the activists, but it was absolutely the right thing to do.”
Equality Florida, the state’s leading LGBTQ+ activist group, said in a statement that it was “deeply disappointed” by the ruling.
“Transgender youth already face extraordinary levels of harassment, isolation and political attacks. Excluding them from activities with their peers only deepens that harm and makes it harder for young people to feel safe, supported, and connected.
“These cases are part of a broader national effort to push transgender people out of public life and turn their identities into political battlegrounds. The consequences reach far beyond transgender students, fueling harassment, profiling, and invasive questioning of girls who do not fit narrow expectations of how they are expected to look or act.”
–Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix
PaulT says
The ire expressed by Florida’s politicians over the United States Supreme Court upholding an amendment to the US constitution is no surprise. Both Scott and DeSantis have lived in a bubble where the Florida Supreme Court, whose members were of course nominated by the governor, abandon their collective legal and moral conscience by always ruljng in favor of whatever Rick or Ron wanted. Want something confirmed that flaunts a state constitutional amendment? No problem, just ignore the amendments and the voters, the court willsmooth things out and give you a free pass.
Their outrage is a true measure of how corrupt Florida’s politicians (particularly the Republicans) have become, and trust me , Byron Donalds is worse than either Scott or De Santis, and he’s hiding his past.
The fall of America. says
What’s to stop every muslim terrorist organization from human trafficking women raping them till pregnant and flying them to US for the birth at 8 1/2 months? Ridiculous SCOTUS decision on the Eve of our 250th year, clearly there will not be a 500th quincentennial.
PaulT says
The Fall of America is certainly on track., At the hands of authoritarians in government by mean of vote suppression, politically biased redistricting and chicanery like Trups illegal executive order directing the postal service to withold delivery of mail in ballots.
The uproar about birthright citizenship is another right wing fake crisis in a country where every citizen is a descendant of either a birthright or naturalized citizen, a process clearly and unambiguously defined by the 14th amendment.
Pogo says
I suppose it is somehow useful to keep up with latest disappointment of the people who do so much to provide the Republican Party criminals with the grist for the windmill (complete with the graceful crosses, filled with the breeze from their mouths, turning it) in the steeple of their church of the propetual moral panic — and just goddamn plain lies and nonsense.
As stated
https://www.bing.com/search?q=propetual+moral+panic
So, gun violence ravages someplace or another constantly and democratic government and the rule of law are trampled; liars, theives, and murderers are celebrated and placed in positions of honor and trust over all.
Maybe we ought do something about that, e g, win a fucking election once in a while — after, of course, we first get rid of police, jails, prisons, and make androgny universal.
And so it goes.
Pogo says
And perpetual too. 😞
Pogo says
Perpetual too. 😞
DaleL says
I really don’t understand all the fuss about birth-right citizenship. The 14th Amendment, Section 1 seems to be very clear.
“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States…”
There is no mention of the citizenship status of the mother or father. The section applies only to the person who is born (or naturalized) and no one else. Even if a newborn baby or young child is not considered as subject directly to U.S. law, that does not change their birth status. A child, born in the U.S., who grows up in another country, is a citizen by birth-right, upon returning to the U.S. and being subject to the jurisdiction of the U.S.
I question how three of the Justices could reach another finding.
Sherry says
Thank goodness the Supreme Court did not allow trump to trample even more all over our constitution. If there was any ambiguity in the 14th amendment, I’m certain this “far right” majority count would give trump carte blanche to do whatever racist thing he likes.
Ed Danko, former Vice-Mayor PC says
The Supreme Court clearly got it wrong! We need an amendment to the Constitution to reverse this horrible decision. Until then, we need to enact legislation that will forbid any woman (that’s right liberals, WOMAN, because men can not give birth) from entering our country who is pregnant and close to giving birth. We can not allow someone to just enter America, pop out a baby on our soil, and be entailed to all the benefits of U.S. citizenship. We need to keep illegals out (thank you President Trump) and stop the “birth tourist” from China.
Nick says
Those people against this decision…your ancestors were immigrants. The only reason why we are all American citizens is because our ancestors came here from another country. Even indigenous people migrated here over the land bridge that existed ages ago. Not a single person in this country is native to this land.
The dude says
Justice Boofer telegraphed what to expect…
They will not stop trying to erase the 14th amendment through chicanery and underhandedness, even though there’s prescribed procedure on how to repeal Constitutional Amendments.
Tony Mack says
“…from entering our country who is pregnant and close to giving birth…” Wait a sec — how about we let in just pregnant white women…or pregnant white, blonde women…or pregnant blonde white women who are wealthy…that would be okay.
But women of color, women who are not Christians (you know — those Mooslims), women who are poor, women from countries where they were raped…nope — shut the door on them ‘cuz we don’t tolerate those who don’t be like us…
That’s the spirit Trumpers — keep American white, Christian and wealthy…
Callmeishmael says
What if the father is an unmarried man who is a US citizen and the pregnant mother is an immigrant arriving in the US with him for the first time so she can freely identify as a man without being persecuted in her native country? Oh, and what if the unmarried man proposes to the pregnant mother the moment they step off the plane, or even in Customs?
And what if they decided to move in next door to Ed Danko, former vice mayor of PC, and have a backyard wedding?
Skibum says
I have to wonder, and WORRY about Clarence Thomas’ transparent biases, prejudices and frankly, very cloudy thinking process. He is apparently so convinced that the 14th amendment should apply ONLY to those descendants of slaves which are long dead and buried, but no other American born children of immigrants in today’s America. He thinks the U.S. Constitution is very strict and precise about what his interpretation of it meant.
Would he not then be just as circumspect and specific about the forefather’s intent and the meaning of the 2nd amendment when it was written? After all, at that time in our history, flintlock muskets were the only long guns in existence at the time, not the powerful AR-15 style semiautomatic rifles with extended and/or drum magazines capable of the rapid firing of hundreds of rounds per second. The very type of killing weapon that most mass school shooters choose to do their killing with.
So, does anyone believe Clarence Thomas would use his thinker to tightly construct a thoughtful opinion in a 2nd amendment case to support common sense gun control and restrict the sale, possession, use of AR-15 rifles? That is a superfluous
question because the answer, of course, is NO!
Personally, I cannot wait for the day when Thomas and Alito as well are no longer sitting members of the Supreme Court. Their decisions make America more unsafe, more undemocratic, and more leaning toward an autocracy ruled by extremists with no real desire to obey their oaths of office or to govern with the intention of having the citizen’s best interests at heart.